Systems and methods for presentation of content items relating to a topic

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides systems and methods that provide a lean-back, interactive experience that enables a user to browse and understand content items (e.g., news articles or reactions) that provide different perspectives around a topic (e.g., a news story). In particular, the systems and methods can provide context around a topic by assembling a wide-range of interesting content around a topic and seamlessly allowing users to scan through articles by surfacing unique information contained in them. The systems and methods of the present disclosure can read, understand, and organizes thousands of documents around a topic, hence allowing easy consumption of news.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of both of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/668,241 and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/668,230, both of which are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to presentation of contentitems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to interactiveuser interfaces that visually scroll cards associated with content items(e.g., news articles) relating to a topic (e.g., a news story).

BACKGROUND

Consuming information around a news story is difficult. For example, fora prominent news story, there may be thousands of news articlespublished by hundreds of publishers. Further, in addition to traditionaltextual news articles, today's media landscape further includes newscontent in different media formats such as videos, blogs, social mediaposts, etc. that are scattered across the web and not consolidatedtogether in a single place.

Distilling the information from this large number of different sourcesis an extremely challenging task. In particular, gaining a nuancedunderstanding of a news story involves not just reading one article buthaving enough information regarding different perspectives around thenews story to make a well-informed judgement about the issues underlyingthe news story.

Currently, there is no simple yet effective way for a user to get asneak-peek into the content present in content items around a story thathelps the user identify, understand, and read interesting documents. Forexample, in certain existing systems, a user is provided with only alist of unrelated news articles and the user must examine each differentarticle to determine whether the article relates to a topic in which theuser is interested in understanding. If the article does relate to thetopic, the user is then required to load and read the whole article tounderstand its content.

Thus, it is difficult for users to understand all the dimensions of astory. A typical user is busy and does not have the time to scout theInternet for relevant information to be well informed about a newsstory.

SUMMARY

Aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will beset forth in part in the following description, or can be learned fromthe description, or can be learned through practice of the embodiments.

One example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to acomputer-implemented method to provide an informational display. Themethod includes selecting, by one or more computing devices, a pluralityof content items that relate to a topic. The method includes generating,by the one or more computing devices, one or more content descriptorsfor each of the plurality of content items. The method includesproviding for display, by the one or more computing devices, a userinterface that cycles through a plurality of cards respectivelyassociated with the plurality of content items. For each of theplurality of cards, the user interface presents at least one of the oneor more content descriptors generated for the content item thatcorresponds to such card.

Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to various systems,apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, user interfaces,and electronic devices.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of various embodimentsof the present disclosure will become better understood with referenceto the following description and appended claims. The accompanyingdrawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification, illustrate example embodiments of the present disclosureand, together with the description, serve to explain the relatedprinciples.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Detailed discussion of embodiments directed to one of ordinary skill inthe art is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to theappended figures, in which:

FIGS. 1A-C depict graphical diagrams of example user interfacesaccording to example embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example computing system accordingto example embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart diagram of an example method to provide aninformational display according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart diagram of an example method to provide aninformational display according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, the present disclosure is directed to systems and methodsthat provide a lean-back, interactive experience that enables a user tobrowse and understand content items (e.g., news articles or reactions)that provide different perspectives around a topic (e.g., a news story).In particular, the systems and methods can provide context around atopic by assembling a wide-range of interesting content around a topicand seamlessly allowing users to scan through articles by surfacingunique information contained in them. The systems and methods of thepresent disclosure can read, understand, and organize thousands ofdocuments around a topic, hence allowing easy consumption of news.

In particular, in some implementations, the systems and methods of thepresent disclosure can generate and provide for display an interactiveuser interface (which can be referred to as a “newscast”) that displays(e.g., sequentially in an auto-play fashion) a number of individualwindows, frames, cells, or other discrete display elements, referred toherein as “cards”, where each card corresponds to a document, video,“audio clip”, social media post, or any other type of content itemrelated to a topic. Clicking on, tapping, or otherwise selecting one ofthe cards can take the user to the full version of the correspondingdocument, video, social media post or other content item. Alternativelyor additionally, one or more of the cards can provide the user with anoption of visiting a larger landing page that contains more complete andmulti-faceted information and coverage about the topic which allows adeep dive into the topic.

In some implementations, the “display” may be an audio stream, and the“cards” may be individual audio clips with interstitial demarcationssuch as tones, phrases (e.g., “next clip”), or a combination of visualand audio “cards”. In these implementations, a user may select a cardwith a spoken instruction (e.g., “play the second one”, “play the onefrom Bloomer News Network”, etc.). In some implementations, the userinterface can include an icon or other control widget that enables theuser to initiate an audio-based implementation or hybrid audio/videoimplementation of the user interface. Additionally or alternatively, insome implementations, the user device itself will limit the interface toaudio, such as in the case of so-called assistant-enabled devices or“smart speakers,” or in situations in which context indicates thataudio-focused interfaces are preferred, such as in an automotiveenvironment.

More particularly, a computing system can select a number of contentitems that relate to a topic for inclusion in a newscast about thetopic. For example, the computing system can identify a cluster ofcontent items around a topic and can select some of the content itemsfor inclusion in the newscast. The content items can include individualarticles, blogs, textual comments, videos, audio clips, and/or otheritems of content that at least inferentially relate to the topic.

In one example, newscasts around topics can be a feature of a contentaggregation application (e.g., news application) or platform and, in oneexample, the computing system can generate a newscast for any topicwhere the corresponding cluster of content items exceeds a certainnumber. Once generated, for example, the newscast can be provided in acontent feed within the content aggregation application. Thus, anewscast can be triggered based on how significant a topic is and howmuch information is available around the topic.

In another example, if the user has performed a search for a particulartopic, in response, the computing system can identify and select contentitems related to such topic and generate a newscast for presentation tothe user. Thus, the newscast can be provided as a search result. In yetfurther examples, newscasts can be driven based on personalization for auser (e.g., if the user has a user profile). In another example, anewscast for a given topic can be generated in response to a userrequesting additional information on the topic while, for example,browsing a first content item regarding the topic. Thus, the computingsystem can enable the user to transition from one content item about atopic to other content items on the same topic.

Thus, in some implementations, the computing system can perform abackend algorithm that identifies and clusters content items related toa topic from a wide range of sources of content items (e.g., publisherwebsites, blogs, social media platforms, video platforms, and/or thelike). The content item selection algorithm can ensure that there issufficient diversity in both actual content (e.g., perspective) and alsotype of content (e.g., video versus textual social media post), whichprevents redundant information being shown to a user while also allowingthe user to explore various differing perspectives around the topic. Thealgorithm can also identify and cluster other useful information that isnecessary to provide more context around the story such as social mediaposts from key people in the story and videos that are relevant to thestory. Thus, by selecting a diverse array of content types andperspectives, the computing system can objectively curate content itemsrelated to a core theme or topic.

The computing system can generate a card for each selected content item.For example, the card for a content item can include a title of thecontent item, a graphic associated with the content item, and/or otherinformation such as snippets from the content item, as will be describedfurther below.

For example, the graphic can include a still picture extracted from thecontent item. In some implementations, the graphic can be presented asdynamic imagery. As one example, the still picture can be moved (e.g.,translated side to side and/or increased or decreased in size (e.g.,zoomed)) during presentation on the card. As another example, thecontent item can be or include a movie and at least a portion of themovie can be played back when the card for such content item isdisplayed. In an at least partial audio embodiment, the card can includea selected audio sample that is associated with the content item.Presentation of the card can include playback of the selected audiosample. Thus, in some implementations, the card for each content itemcan include large and rich visuals (and/or audio) which serve to catchthe user's interest while also conveying the actual content itself.

The computing system can present the cards in the newscast formatdescribed herein. In particular, according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure, a newscast can present a plurality of cards in aninteractive slide-show-like format that lets users browse content itemsthat relate to a topic. As examples, the user interface canautomatically scroll through the cards and/or the user can swipe,audibly instruct, or otherwise navigate through the array of cards.

In particular, in some implementations, users can interact with thenewscast by swiping through the cards to see a wide range of contentaround the topic. Users can also be provided with a fast forward buttonthat makes scanning through the cards quick and easy. Users can tap onthese buttons to navigate back and forth between the cards on newscastsand to make the snippets on the cards load quickly. This helps usersbrowse articles from multiple publishers, see videos, social media postsand other media along with the articles and get a flavor of thedifferent perspectives around the story.

In some implementations, each card presented in the newscast can includeone or more content descriptors that describe the corresponding contentitem. In particular, in some instances, the content descriptors includeinteresting pre-selection information that piques the user's interestand hence enhances the experience of browsing through content to findinteresting material. In one example, the content descriptors caninclude snippets and/or quotes generated or extracted from the contentitems in the newscast that help the user get a glimpse of the contentwithin each respective content item.

Thus, in addition to assembling content, newscasts also enable users toidentify and read interesting articles by surfacing snippets or keyfacts from the content item on the cards. These snippets could beinteresting sentences from the content item or quotes from key people inthe story extracted from the content item. Thus, in some instances, thesnippet can be a portion extracted from a body of the content item, forexample, rather than a title, subtitle, or other heading associated withthe content item. The snippets can be displayed along with the publishertitles and timestamp on content items in the newscast. Thus, in someimplementations, each card included in the newscast can contain anextracted snippet along with publisher title on the card and clicking onthe card would take users to the content item.

In some implementations, snippets are extracted or otherwise generatedusing an algorithm that identifies salient sentences to help users get aflavor of the content in the content item. The algorithm ensures thatsimilar sentences are not extracted from the content items in a newscastand eliminates redundancy in information. The snippet can include easilydigestible information that, for example, summarizes the content item.

Further, in some implementations, quotes can be extracted using anotheralgorithm that identifies a quote made by a person in the document.Using semantic understanding of text, the algorithm can identify whomade the quote and how relevant the quote is to the story/topic. Forcontent items that contain a quote, the extracted quote along with whomade the quote can be displayed as the snippet on the newscast card.

An additional example of a content descriptor includes a label or otheridentifier that displays journalistic styles of the article (e.g.,Opinion, Reporting, Satire, Live Blog, etc.). As another example, acontent descriptor can describe a level of opinion contained within thecontent item (e.g., from 1 to 5). As another example, a contentdescriptor can describe a level of fact (or contrarily a level ofmisinformation) contained within the content item. As a still furtherexample, a user may select items determined to be similar to aparticular content item or publisher or different than a particularcontent item or publisher, etc. in order to be provided with additionalcontent items that are determined to be from a similar perspective or adifferent perspective from a specific content item, respectively.

Surfacing content descriptors (e.g., as described above) on the newscastcards empowers users to understand the content in documents better andmake a well-informed decision around finding the right article to read.This fuels the publisher ecosystem since users can easily scan through avariety of publishers and different styles of reporting, exposing themto different perspectives.

Thus, for any topic (e.g., news story), newscasts can organize a numberof content items and allow a user to interact with such content itemswithout overwhelming the user. This enables the user to browse throughsome of the interesting articles and other content around the storyseamlessly and makes it easy for users to understand what the documentis and why they should read it. This provides a huge value in userexperience since users can browse interesting content from across theweb and understand the story better.

In particular, the user interface gives users a sneak peek into some ofthe interesting documents around a story by assembling a wide range ofdocuments, social media posts and videos. In addition, the cards canfeature extracted snippets and quotes from the content items that helpusers get a glimpse of the content within these articles. This helpsusers browse articles from multiple publishers, see videos, social mediaposts, and other media along with the content items and gain anunderstanding of the different perspectives around the story.

Although the newscast user interface is described herein primarily withrespect to news content related to a news story, the user interface canbe used to enable users to browse content items around any differenttype of topic (e.g., Travel, Hiking, Technology, etc.). The userinterface can also be used to explore different content items (e.g., notuniformly related to a single unifying topic) from a particularpublisher.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure provide a number oftechnical effects and benefits. In one example, the present disclosureprovides a way for users to easily scan through interesting contentaround a topic and, similarly, to easily identify and content that theuser wishes to consume in further detail. By providing such a newscastuser interface, the user is able to more quickly comprehend the truenature of each content item and ascertain whether she is interested inreading the content item in full. In such fashion, the user is able toavoid loading and reading content items in which she is not interestedin reading, thereby conserving processing, memory, and network resourcesof the computing system (whether server device, client device or both).Likewise, by selecting a diverse array of content items for inclusion inthe newscast, the systems and methods of the present disclosure are ableto provide informational displays with improved diversity, structure,and/or other features which take into account the actual content of thedocuments themselves. In such fashion, the user is able to easilyascertain a more diverse representation of the different stancesincluded in the content items. Therefore, the user can avoidreading/viewing content items which feature redundant opinions, therebyagain conserving processing, memory, and network resources of thecomputing system.

In some cases, systems of the type disclosed herein may learn throughone or more various machine learning techniques (e.g., by training aneural network or other machine-learned model) a balance of the types ofcontent items, perspectives, sources, and/or other attributes that arepreferred, such as based on different types of content, different userpopulations, different contexts such as timing and location, etc. Forexample, data descriptive of actions taken by one or more users (e.g.,“clicks,” “likes,” or similar) with respect to the user interface invarious contextual scenarios can be stored and used as training data totrain (e.g., via supervised training techniques) one or moremachine-learned models to, after training, generate predictions whichassist in providing content in the user interface which meets the one ormore users respective preferences. In such a way, system performance isimproved with reduced manual intervention, providing fewer user searchesand further conserving processing, memory, and network resources of thecomputing system (whether server device, client device or both).

With reference now to the Figures, example embodiments of the presentdisclosure will be discussed in further detail.

Example User Interfaces

FIGS. 1A-C depict graphical diagrams of example user interfacesaccording to example embodiments of the present disclosure. The exampleuser interfaces shown in FIGS. 1A-C are provided as examples only. Manyother and different user interfaces can be used in addition oralternatively to the example user interfaces of FIGS. 1A-C.

Referring first to FIG. 1A, a device 10 is displaying a user interface11 that includes a card 12. For example, the card 12 can be the firstcard in a newscast that is displayed as part of a content feed (e.g.,the cards above and below 12 can be part of the feed).

The card 12 corresponds to a news article discussing a speech given aparticular event. The card 12 includes a video 13 that has beenextracted from the news article and is being played back in the card 12.If the user taps or otherwise selects the card 12, the user will betaken to the full news article.

The card 12 also includes a title 14 of the news article. The card 12also includes an icon 16 that indicates the publisher of the newsarticle (also shown in text below) and a timestamp 18 that indicates theage of the news article. A button 20 allows the user to receiveadditional selectable options about the card 12. The card 12 can alsoinclude additional content descriptors such as, for example, a labelthat marks that the corresponding news article is an Opinion article ora label that indicates that the video 13 is streaming live.

Because the card 12 includes playback of the video 13, the card 12 canalso include an equalizer button 22. If the user selects the equalizerbutton 22, the user can be provided with controls that allow the user tocontrol an audio level (e.g., mute or unmute the audio) associated withplayback of the video 13. Although the example card 12 includes a video13, it could alternatively include a still picture or other graphic.

In some implementations, the card 12 can further include a speaker icon29 or other control widget that enables the user to initiate anaudio-based implementation or hybrid audio/video implementation of thecard 12. Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, thedevice 10 itself will limit the interface to audio, such as in the caseof so-called assistant-enabled devices or “smart speakers,” or insituations in which context indicates that audio-focused interfaces arepreferred, such as in an automotive environment.

The card 12 also includes a footer 24 that includes a link that, ifselected, will take the user to a larger landing page that provides moreinformation about the event.

The card 12 also includes a progress bar 26. The progress bar 26indicates the progress through the newscast (e.g., through the pluralityof cards that make up the newscast). In some implementations, such asthe illustrated implementation, the progress bar 26 includes a pluralityof disconnected segments (e.g., segments 28 a and 28 b). In someimplementations, each disconnected segment corresponds to one of thecards. For example, segment 28 a corresponds to the card 12.

The user interface 11 can progressively fill the segment 28 a while thecard 12 is displayed (e.g., during a presentation period associated withthe card 12). Once the presentation period associated with the card 12expires, the user interface can replace card 12 with a new card (e.g.,card 32 as shown in FIG. 1B. Thus, the user interface 11 can auto playthrough the cards.

The presentation period associated with each can be a predefined amountof time (e.g., five seconds). The presentation periods can beconsecutive and non-overlapping. Card 12 can be replaced with a new cardin any number of different fashions, including, for example, horizontalsliding/wiping of the card, flipping of the card, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 1B, following expiration of the presentationperiod associated with card 12, the user interface 11 now shows a secondcard 32. The second card 32 is similar to card 12 but corresponds to adifferent content item relating to the same topic.

As can be seen at the progress bar 26, the segment 28 a that correspondsto card 12 has completely filled and the segment 28 b that correspondsto the second card 32 is in the progress of being filled.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, during presentation ofa card (e.g., card 32) one or more snippets can also be displayed on thecard. Snippets can include sentences or quotes extracted from thecontent item and/or can include other information about or from thecontent item.

In some implementations, for example as illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1C,the snippet can be added mid-way through presentation of the card. Thus,as an example, FIG. 1B shows an initial portion of a presentation periodassociated with the card 32 where the snippet is not present, while FIG.1C shows a secondary portion of the presentation period where a snippet34 has been added. Likewise, it can be seen that segment 28 b ofprogress bar 26 is more full in FIG. 1C relative to FIG. 1B.

In some implementations, the snippet 34 and/or other features on thecard can be presented with a typewriter effect in which textualcharacters included in the snippet are sequentially added on the cardover a period of time. In some implementations, when the snippet 34 ispresented, various other features of the card (e.g., the icon 36 thatindicates the publisher) can be reduced in size to make room for thesnippet 34.

In some implementations, the graphic 37 (e.g., video, still image, orother graphic) can be darkened or otherwise de-emphasized when thesnippet 34 appears. This helps to make newscasts less overwhelming.

Example Computing Systems

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example computing system 100 thatgenerates and provides newscasts according to example embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The system 100 includes a user computing device 102and a server computing system 130 that are communicatively coupled overa network 180.

The user computing device 102 can be any type of computing device, suchas, for example, a personal computing device (e.g., laptop or desktop),a mobile computing device (e.g., smartphone or tablet), a gaming consoleor controller, a smart speaker, a computing device that is able to beworn, an embedded computing device, or any other type of computingdevice.

The user computing device 102 includes one or more processors 112 and amemory 114. The one or more processors 112 can be any suitableprocessing device (e.g., a processor core, a microprocessor, an ASIC, aFPGA, a controller, a microcontroller, etc.) and can be one processor ora plurality of processors that are operatively connected. The memory 114can include one or more non-transitory computer-readable storagemediums, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, EPROM, flash memory devices, magneticdisks, etc., and combinations thereof. The memory 114 can store data 116and instructions 118 which are executed by the processor 112 to causethe user computing device 102 to perform operations.

In some implementations, the user computing device 102 can include acontent aggregation application 121. For example, the contentaggregation application 121 can communicate with the server computingsystem 130 over network 180 to receive and display content items to auser (e.g., in the form of a content feed). In some implementations, thecontent aggregation application 121 can receive a newscast generated bythe server computing system (e.g., by a newscast generator 142) and candisplay the newscast within a user interface of the content aggregationapplication (e.g., as an entry in a content feed).

In other implementations, the user computing device 102 does notnecessarily include a dedicated content aggregation application 121, butmay instead include a browser application (not shown). The browserapplication can communicate with the server computing system 130 overnetwork 180 to receive and display content items to a user (e.g., in theform of a content feed). In some implementations, the contentaggregation application 121 can receive a newscast generated by theserver computing system (e.g., by the newscast generator 142) and candisplay the newscast within a browser window of the browser application(e.g., as an entry in a content feed). The browser application can insome examples be a mobile browser.

As examples, the content aggregation application 121 and/or the browserapplication can perform some or all of method 300 of FIG. 3 and/ormethod 400 of FIG. 4.

The user computing device 102 can also include one or more user inputcomponents 122 that receive user input. For example, the user inputcomponent(s) 122 can be a touch-sensitive component (e.g., atouch-sensitive display screen or a touch pad) that is sensitive to thetouch of a user input object (e.g., a finger or a stylus). Thetouch-sensitive component can serve to implement a virtual keyboard.Other example user input components include a microphone, a mouse, atraditional keyboard, or other means by which a user can provide userinput.

The user computing device 102 can also include a display 124. Forexample, the display 124 can be a touch-sensitive display screen. Thus,in some instances, the display can be a user input component 122. Asexamples, the display 124 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) ororganic light-emitting diode (OLED) part of a touch screen, can be anon-touchscreen direct view display component such as a cathode ray tube(CRT), light-emitting diode (LED), LCD, or OLED. The display 124 canalso be a projector instead of a direct view display.

The server computing system 130 includes one or more processors 132 anda memory 134. The one or more processors 132 can be any suitableprocessing device (e.g., a processor core, a microprocessor, an ASIC, aFPGA, a controller, a microcontroller, etc.) and can be one processor ora plurality of processors that are operatively connected. The memory 134can include one or more non-transitory computer-readable storagemediums, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, EPROM, flash memory devices, magneticdisks, etc., and combinations thereof. The memory 134 can store data 136and instructions 138 which are executed by the processor 132 to causethe server computing system 130 to perform operations.

In some implementations, the server computing system 130 includes or isotherwise implemented by one or more server computing devices. Ininstances in which the server computing system 130 includes pluralserver computing devices, such server computing devices can operateaccording to sequential computing architectures, parallel computingarchitectures, or some combination thereof.

In some implementations, the server computing system 130 can include anewscast generator 142. The newscast generator 142 can generate anewscast or other informational display that provides cards associatedwith content items. For example, the newscast generator 142 can accessone or more content item databases 144 that contain content items togenerate the newscast. For example, the content items database(s) 144can include content items that are published (e.g., on the web) byvarious publishers. For example, the content items can be accessed fromthe publishers' web domains or the content items can be submitted by thepublishers to a central database associated with the server computingsystem 130. The content item databases 144 can include data associatedwith news websites, blogs, social media platforms, and/or other sourcesof content items. The content item databases 144 can be one database ormultiple databases. Multiple databases can be co-located or can bephysically distributed.

As examples, the newscast generator 142 can perform some or all ofmethod 300 of FIG. 3 and/or method 400 of FIG. 4. However, in oneexample, the newscast generator 142 performs method 300 of FIG. 3 whilethe content aggregation application 121 or browser application performsmethod 400 of FIG. 4.

Although the newscast generator 142 is shown as located at the servercomputing system 130, in other implementations, the newscast generator142 can be included in a content aggregation application (e.g., newsapplication) stored on and executed by the user computing device 102.

Each of the content aggregation application 121 and the newscastgenerator 142 includes computer logic utilized to provide desiredfunctionality. Each of the content aggregation application 121 and thenewscast generator 142 can be implemented in hardware, firmware, and/orsoftware controlling a general purpose processor. For example, in someimplementations, each of the content aggregation application 121 and thenewscast generator 142 includes program files stored on a storagedevice, loaded into a memory and executed by one or more processors. Inother implementations, each of the content aggregation application 121and the newscast generator 142 includes one or more sets ofcomputer-executable instructions that are stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium such as RAM hard disk or optical ormagnetic media.

The network 180 can be any type of communications network, such as alocal area network (e.g., intranet), wide area network (e.g., Internet),or some combination thereof and can include any number of wired orwireless links. In general, communication over the network 180 can becarried via any type of wired and/or wireless connection, using a widevariety of communication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, FTP),encodings or formats (e.g., HTML, XML), and/or protection schemes (e.g.,VPN, secure HTTP, SSL).

Example Methods

FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart diagram of an example method 300 to providean informational display according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

At 302, a computing system can identify a topic for which a newscastshould be created. In one example, the computing system can generate anewscast for any topic where a corresponding cluster of content itemsexceeds a certain number (e.g., 50). By generating newscasts for topicswith a large number of associated content items, the computing systemdraws the user's attention to important stories. As another examplerule, in some implementations, newscasts will not be generated/triggeredfor topics that have less than a certain number (e.g., 7) of uniquecontent items in the cluster.

Thus, the computing system may rely upon or otherwise leverage analgorithm that clusters content items according to topics. For example,the system may generate clusters through keyword matching or othernatural language processing, clustering algorithms (e.g., k-nearestneighbors), use of knowledge graphs, and/or other techniques forassociating content items with different topics.

In another example, if the user has performed a search for a particulartopic, in response, the computing system can determine at 302 that anewscast should be generated for such topic.

At 304, the computing system can select a plurality of content itemsthat relate to the topic. Thus, given a cluster of content items arounda topic, the computing system can perform at 304 a content itemselection algorithm to select certain of such content items forinclusion in the newscast.

In some implementations, the content item selection algorithm performedat 304 can ensure that there is sufficient diversity in both actualcontent (e.g., perspective) and also type of content (e.g., video versustextual social media post), which prevents redundant information beingshown to a user while also allowing the user to explore variousdiffering perspectives around the topic. The algorithm can also identifyand cluster other useful information that is necessary to provide morecontext around the story such as social media posts from key people inthe story and videos that are relevant to the story. Thus, by selectinga diverse array of content types and perspectives, the computing systemcan objectively curate content items related to a core theme or topic.

In particular, content items included in the newscasts should be from adiverse range of publishers so that users are exposed to differentperspectives. In some implementations, the content selection algorithmperformed at 304 can rank content items and pick a set of diversecontent items as candidates for the newscasts. Diversity can be based onthe following axes: salient terms; persons discussed; opinion (or thelack thereof); news diversity; similar audience based diversity; and/orother characteristics.

In some implementations, in addition to the diversity objectivesdescribed above, the content item selection algorithm can implement orenforce a number of rules that assist in selecting content items andgenerating the associated newscast.

As one example, each newscast generated by the system can include acertain number (e.g., 3, 5, 7, etc.) of content items and correspondingcards. The cards can include a video, an image, a document, a socialmedia post, and/or other artifacts.

As another example, the lead (i.e., first) card can always be a documentor a video that generally summarizes the topic or otherwise helps theuser understand what the topic is about.

In some implementations, social media posts that are highly relevant tothe topic are surfaced in newscasts. These posts are typically fromauthoritative voices that are involved in the story and are likely to beembedded in three or more documents in the cluster, which is a sign ofimportance. Thus, the fact that a tweet is embedded in other contentitems in the topic cluster is a strong signal that it should be includedin the newscast.

In some implementations, the computing system can use the content itemselection/ranking algorithms described above to first identity a certainnumber of textual documents and then subsequently make calls to fetchvideos, quotes, and/or social media posts along with the selectedtextual documents.

At 306, the computing system can generate one or more contentdescriptors for each of the plurality of content items. As examples, thecontent descriptors can include a snippet, where the snippet is atextual summary of the content item, one or more sentences extractedfrom the content item, and/or a quote extracted from the content item.As another example, the content descriptors can include an opinion leveldescriptor that describes a level of opinion contained in such contentitem. Other content descriptors can be used as well including variouslabels or tags that classify certain aspects of the correspondingcontent item.

More particularly, some or all the cards included in a newscast willhave a snippet generated or extracted and displayed on the card. Thesnippets on the cards can be non-redundant and can offer unique value tousers swiping through the cards on newscasts.

Cards that have snippets displayed on them can include some or all ofthe following items: Image (e.g., document+snippet card); Snippetoverlay (e.g., document+snippet card); Kicker indicating content typesuch as LIVE or OPINION (e.g., document+snippet card); Extracted quoteon a white background (e.g., document+quote card); Identification of theperson who made the quote (e.g., document+quote card); Publisher title(e.g., document+snippet card, document+quote card); Publisher logo(e.g., document+snippet card, document+quote card); Published timestamp(e.g., document+snippet card, document+quote card); Overflow menu forfeedback (e.g., document+snippet card, document+quote card).

In some implementations, all video cards on newscasts will have a userinterface indicator (e.g., equalizer or sound modulation animated icon)on them. Videos can play inline if the video if possible. Certain videosmay not contain snippet overlays to avoid visual noise.

In some implementations, a kicker or tag can be presented on cards fordocuments or videos that are LIVE and/or can be presented on OPINIONpieces to help users distinguish these from factual reporting.

In some implementations, quotes from key people are extracted fromcontent items included in the newscast and are displayed on thecorresponding card. In some implementations, quotes are permitted onlyon the cards at certain positions (e.g., position 2 or 3). In someimplementations, a newscast is prohibited to contain more than two cardswith quotes on them.

In some implementations, the extracted quotes can adhere to some or allthe following guidelines: Quotes should be from an authoritative peoplethat have knowledge graph entities associated with them. For example:[“quote” by spectator] or [“quote” by board of director] should beavoided, while [“quote” by Donald Trump] or [“quote” by ChadwickBoseman] are preferred so users have better context. In another example,titles of movies, songs or books should not be displayed as quotes. Forexample: [“Look what you made me do”, Taylor Swift] should not beconsidered as a quote since it's the name of a song. As yet anotherexample, quotes should contain four or more words, because quotes thatare less than words long provide very little value/context to the story.For example: [“I saw that”, J. K Rowling] adds very little context tothe story. Quotes must be correctly attributed to the person who madethe quote. The quote should also be attributed to the document it isextracted from. Quotes should be complete sentences and should end witha period. Snippets should be diverse and they should be de-duplicated.Thus, generating one or more content descriptors for each of theplurality of content items can include de-duplicating the one or morecontent descriptors for the plurality of content items.

At 308, the computing system can provide for display a user interfacethat visually scrolls through the plurality of cards that arerespectively associated with the plurality of content items.

In particular, after generating the one or more content descriptors forthe plurality of content items, the computing system can mix themtogether using a packing algorithm that ensures the appropriateordering. As one example, in some implementations, newscasts should notlead with quotes or social media posts since users should understand thestory first before getting supplementary/contextual information. Thus,in some implementations, the lead content item should always be factualreporting.

As another example, in some implementations, newscasts should notcontain more than two quotes and the quotes (if any) should be placedamong cards two through four. As another example, in someimplementations, the newscast should contain not more than one socialmedia post and the social media post can be placed among cards twothrough four. As yet another example, in some implementations, opinionsshould be ranked between cards four and seven and should be diverse.

In one example, a server computing system can generate the newscast asdescribed in method 300 and can provide the newscast to a user computingdevice for display by the user computing device.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart diagram of an example method 400 to providean informational display according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

At 402, a computing system presents the next card of a newscast. Forexample, at the first instance of 402, the next card can be the firstcard. In some instances, presenting a card can include playback of avideo associated with the card.

At 404, the computing system determines if the user has selected thecard. If the user has selected the card, then method 400 proceeds to 405and the computing system directs the user to the full content item.

However, if the user has not selected the card, then method 400 proceedsto 406 and the computing system determines whether an initialpresentation period associated with the currently displayed card hasexpired. If the initial presentation period has not expired, then method400 returns to 404.

However, if the initial presentation period has expired, the method 400proceeds to 408 and the computing system presents the snippet associatedwith the currently displayed card, if one is available. Snippets are notrequired to be generated for each and every card. Additionally oralternatively to presentation of the snippet at 408, other contentdescriptors can be presented. After 408, method 400 proceeds to 410.

At 410, the computing system determines if the user has selected thecard. If the user has selected the card, then method 400 proceeds to 405and the computing system directs the user to the full content item.

However, if the user has not selected the card, then method 400 proceedsto 412 and the computing system determines whether a secondarypresentation period associated with the currently displayed card hasexpired. If the secondary presentation period has not expired, thenmethod 400 returns to 410.

However, if the secondary presentation period has expired, the method400 returns to 402 and the computing system presents the next card ofthe newscast. In such fashion, the computing system can autoplay anewscast that includes a plurality of cards, thereby providing alean-back, interactive experience that enables a user to browse andunderstand content items (e.g., news articles or reactions) that providedifferent perspectives around a topic (e.g., a news story).

Although not shown in FIG. 4, a user can also navigate between cards.The computing device can navigate to a new card (e.g., next card orprevious card) based on user input and, once the new card is presented,start at step 404 with respect to such new card.

Additional Disclosure

The technology discussed herein makes reference to servers, databases,software applications, and other computer-based systems, as well asactions taken and information sent to and from such systems. Theinherent flexibility of computer-based systems allows for a greatvariety of possible configurations, combinations, and divisions of tasksand functionality between and among components. For instance, processesdiscussed herein can be implemented using a single device or componentor multiple devices or components working in combination. Databases andapplications can be implemented on a single system or distributed acrossmultiple systems. Distributed components can operate sequentially or inparallel.

While the present subject matter has been described in detail withrespect to various specific example embodiments thereof, each example isprovided by way of explanation, not limitation of the disclosure. Thoseskilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing,can readily produce alterations to, variations of, and equivalents tosuch embodiments. Accordingly, the subject disclosure does not precludeinclusion of such modifications, variations and/or additions to thepresent subject matter as would be readily apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art. For instance, features illustrated or described aspart of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield astill further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the presentdisclosure cover such alterations, variations, and equivalents.

In particular, although FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively depict stepsperformed in a particular order for purposes of illustration anddiscussion, the methods of the present disclosure are not limited to theparticularly illustrated order or arrangement. The various steps of themethods 300 and 400 can be omitted, rearranged, combined, and/or adaptedin various ways without deviating from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method to provide aninformational display, the method comprising: identifying, by one ormore computing devices and from multiple distinct sources of contentitems, a plurality of content items that relate to a topic; generating,by the one or more computing device, a plurality of cards respectivelyfor the plurality of content items; generating, by the one or morecomputing devices, one or more content descriptors for each of theplurality of content items, wherein generating, by the one or morecomputing devices, the one or more content descriptors comprisesgenerating, by the one or more computing devices, a respective snippetfor at least one of the plurality of content items; and providing fordisplay, by the one or more computing devices, a user interface thatautomatically cycles through the plurality of cards respectivelyassociated with the plurality of content items such that each of theplurality of cards is presented for a respective predefined presentationperiod, and wherein, for each of the plurality of cards, the userinterface presents at least one of the one or more content descriptorsgenerated for the content item that corresponds to such card; whereinproviding for display, by the one or more computing devices, the userinterface that automatically cycles through the plurality of cardscomprises, for each of the at least one content items for which arespective snippet was generated: providing for display, by the one ormore computing devices, the card associated with the content itemwithout the snippet for an initial portion of the respective predefinedpresentation period for the card; determining, by the one or morecomputing devices, that the initial portion of the respective predefinedpresentation period has expired; and responsive to a determination thatthe initial portion of the respective predefined presentation period hasexpired: providing for display, by the one or more computing devices,both the card and the snippet for a secondary portion of the respectivepredefined presentation period for the card.
 2. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the topic comprises a news story, theplurality of content items comprise one or more news articles thatrelate to the news story, and the multiple distinct sources of contentitems comprise multiple distinct news publishers.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user interfacevisually scrolls through the plurality of cards and wherein, for each ofthe plurality of cards, the user interface visually presents on suchcard while such card is displayed the at least one of the one or morecontent descriptors.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of predefined presentation periods are consecutiveand non-overlapping.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the respective snippet generated for the at least one contentitem comprises a textual summary of the content item or a quoteextracted from the content item.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein providing for display, by the one or more computingdevices, both the card and the snippet comprises overlaying the snippeton the card with a typewriter effect in which textual charactersincluded in the snippet are sequentially added on the card over a periodof time.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinproviding for display, by the one or more computing devices, both thecard and the snippet comprises reducing a brightness of a backgroundimage of the card upon visual presentation of the snippet on the card.8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or morecontent descriptors for at least one of the content items comprise anopinion level descriptor that describes a level of opinion contained insuch content item.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein one or more of the cards comprise dynamic imagery.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of theplurality of content items comprises a movie and the user interfaceperforms playback of the movie in the card associated with such contentitem.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the userinterface includes a progress bar that has a plurality of disconnectedsegments that respectively correspond to the plurality of cards, whereinthe user interface progressively fills the plurality of disconnectedsegments as the user interface automatically cycles through theplurality of cards.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein identifying, by the one or more computing devices, the pluralityof content items that relate to the topic comprises ranking, by the oneor more computing devices, a plurality of candidate content items basedon content diversity.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12,wherein ranking, by the one or more computing devices, the plurality ofcandidate content items based on content diversity comprises ranking, bythe one or more computing devices, the plurality of candidate contentitems based at least in part on one or more of the following features:salient terms; persons discussed; publisher; level of opinion; andaudience type.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereingenerating, by the one or more computing devices, one or more contentdescriptors for each of the plurality of content items comprises, for atleast one of the plurality of content items: extracting, by the one ormore computing devices, a quote that is associated with an entity thathas a knowledge graph entry.
 15. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein identifying, by the one or more computing devices, theplurality of content items that relate to the topic comprisesidentifying, by the one or more computing devices, a social media postthat is embedded within at least a threshold number of candidate contentitems that relate to the topic.
 16. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising: utilizing a machine learning resource to:evaluate one or more user interactions with said user interface providedfor display; and determine at least one adjustment to said userinterface based on said user interactions with said user interface. 17.A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions that,when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or morecomputing devices to perform operations, the operations comprising:identifying, by the one or more computing devices and from multipledistinct sources of content items, a plurality of content items thatrelate to a topic; generating, by the one or more computing device, aplurality of cards respectively for the plurality of content items;generating, by the one or more computing devices, a respective snippetfor at least one of the plurality of content items; and providing fordisplay, by the one or more computing devices, a user interface thatautomatically cycles through the plurality of cards respectivelyassociated with the plurality of content items such that each card ispresented for a respective predefined presentation period; whereinproviding for display, by the one or more computing devices, the userinterface that automatically cycles through the plurality of cardscomprises, for each of the at least one content items for which arespective snippet was generated: providing for display, by the one ormore computing devices, the card associated with the content itemwithout the snippet for an initial portion of the respective predefinedpresentation period for the card; determining, by the one or morecomputing devices, that the initial portion of the respective predefinedpresentation period has expired; and responsive to a determination thatthe initial portion of the respective predefined presentation period hasexpired: providing for display, by the one or more computing devices,both the card and the snippet for a secondary portion of the respectivepredefined presentation period for the card.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein: at least a first card ofthe plurality of cards comprises a still image graphic; and providingfor display, by the one or more computing devices, the user interfacethat automatically cycles through the plurality of cards comprisesmoving, by the one or more computing devices, the still image graphicduring the respective predefined presentation period for the first card.19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, whereinmoving, by the one or more computing devices, the still image graphicduring the respective predefined presentation period for the first cardcomprises zooming, by the one or more computing devices, into the stillimage graphic during the respective predefined presentation period forthe first card.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim18, wherein the operations further comprise extracting, by the one ormore computing devices, the still image graphic is extracted from thecontent item that corresponds to the first card.